Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge on Wednesday after an alleged Israeli air strike on the Iranian consular in Damascus.
“The defeat of the Zionist regime in Gaza will continue, and this regime will be close to decline and dissolution,” Khamenei said in a speech, as quoted by AFP.
“Desperate efforts like the one they committed in Syria will not save them from defeat. Of course, they will also be slapped for that action,” he added.
According to Iranian media reports, seven military advisers died in Monday’s strike, which saw F-35 jets fire six missiles that destroyed the five-story consular building. Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, along with his deputy, were killed in the strike.
Zahedi was a senior military figure in Iran’s network of terror, commanding units within the al-Quds force in Lebanon and Syria. He was crucial to Iran’s support for Hezbollah and its relationship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, mainly by helping to supply Hezbollah with missiles from Iran. In 2010, the United States responded to Zahedi’s terror activities by placing sanctions on him.
Israel has not confirmed or denied carrying out the airstrike.
